Today we turn our attention to Saturday's top of the table clash with Liverpool and Nick Price has very kindly agreed to share his thoughts and predictions for the game with us. He is a Liverpool fan who writes an excellent blog on The Premier League - highly recommended reading. Also, be sure to give him a follow on twitter @pricenick.
Impressions of Arsenal
As always with Arsenal, they’re a terrific team to watch but there’s still doubts over whether or not they can sustain their run of form, especially when they hit a daunting set of fixtures. The Mesut Özil signature seems to have inspired confidence in the team and instilled pride and excitement through the stands, just what was needed after an otherwise embarrassing summer of inactivity despite having more cash to ignite than Monty Burns. He’s the best player to have been imported into the Premier League, and it’s testament to Arsène Wenger’s standing in the game and the way he sets his team out that he could convince him to come.
But, and it’s a big but, his signing alone can’t cover the deficiencies in the squad. I’m a Mathieu Flamini fan but he’s not exactly a brilliant practitioner of what he does - he’s just a bloke who does his job well enough more times than not, which probably isn’t enough for a team competing for multiple trophies. Olivier Giroud is playing as beautifully as he looks, but when he gets injured or goes off the boil, who can come in and pick up the slack? Add to that, Wojciech Szczesny still looks as likely to pull out a stunning save as he does to have a complete brainfart, while the back four is merely alright.
You’d expect Chelsea to step things up some more over the course of the season, and there’s clearly much more to come from the Manchester clubs, so Arsenal need to maintain their form and bank points now before the other big sides pick up the pace.
Thoughts on Brendan Rodgers
There are lots of parallels between Wenger and Rodgers, way back from them being no great shakes as professional players to the way they like to have their teams control games, and you can throw pretty much the same praise and criticism at both.
They both embarrass themselves in press conferences, they both tend to make changes too late in the game when things aren’t going well, they both doggedly stick to their philosophies for better or worse, and they’re both offensively ugly; but, they both give youngsters a chance, they both want their players to keep the ball, and they both promote attractive football, which endears them to supporters. I like both, though many don’t.
Rodgers is a good fit for and reflection of the status of the club at the moment. Liverpool can’t attract the very best players anymore and are having to reply on youngsters with big potential if they are to get back into the top four on a regular basis. I’d be as delighted as I would be surprised if Liverpool do qualify for the Champions League this season, but things are looking on the up and there’s a more discernible playing style and overall strategy under Rodgers than there ever was when Kenny Dalglish came back.
Key battles
It’s all about the midfield. It’s not being too facetious to say Lucas Leiva, Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson would struggle against Ozil and two tuckered out koalas, but Liverpool’s three in the middle are disjointed and, in spite of the possession stats, are not exactly imposing themselves on games this season. Lucas and Gerrard in particular seem to get absolutely knackered around the hour mark, leaving Henderson to run around like a wild dog chasing the ball for the last third. It’s as perplexing as it is worrying, and any team that presses against those three can control the middle.
Giroud versus the back three of Sakho, Skrtel and Toure will also be fascinating. I can see one or two of those getting dragged about by midfield runners, leaving space for Özil et al to slide in a sexy through ball.
On the more positive side, Sturridge and Suarez will force chances versus any defensive combination you can pick, provided they don't get wound up.
What the game will tell us about Liverpool
If Liverpool get a win, then it’s not unreasonable to presume they’re capable of being direct rivals for the top four with Arsenal, but nothing more than that. A point would be a good result and suggest top four is an achievable goal but by no means something that should be expected.
I can’t see Liverpool getting turned over, but a close defeat wouldn’t be unexpected nor necessitate great introspection.
Prediction
I’ll go for a score draw or a narrow Arsenal win with plenty of chances for both sides.
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